Words While We Wait - Day 1

Words While We Wait from Coboconk, Ontario

THE INCUBATION PERIOD

Poet: Julie Bradimore Ritchie
Artist: Donna Bisschop

Note: This poem has intentional misspellings.

I see you….
Quietly gathering your favourite books, teas and cakes, as you stay in, stand in, play in, and sit in the “guard den”.

I see you….
Locking the gate, flattening the curve, while calmly, cautiously, cooling your “heals.”

I feel you….
Winding down into this singular, searching solitude of isolation.

I feel you….
Turning inward, deeply, diving daily, as hidden wisdom wells up in self-reflection.

I hear you….
Zoom into my life with undivided attention as you pivot and lash, and wax and wane, as this bitter bubble bounces.

I hear you….
Breathe this new normal of restrictions through masked lungs.

I smell you….
Mother Earth as you go about your essential business of cleaning our air, oceans and view, while we stay home in responsible, restless restraint.

I smell you….
Sweating to the oldies, with your posse of Peloton peddlers, pushing through this pandemic.

I touch you….
Through PPE, and leave faithful, familiar finger prints on “windowpains”.

I touch you….
With passionate, persistent prayers of spiritual hugs calling out to you while social distancing.

I sense you….
In this state of emergency… this fearful, fatal, frequency of contact tracing in our community.

I sense you….
In memories of posies and the husha husha we all fall down of nursery rhymes, as children learn on line.

I honour you….
As the needle hits my skin… this valued, vital, vaccine to help stop the community spread.

I honour you….
By keeping the gate closed.

THE INCUBATION PERIOD
About the poet, Julie Bradimore Ritchie

Julie Bradimore Ritchie was born in Coboconk, Ontario. Julie can be found most days either in the care of Mother Nature while out walking or while tending to her flower gardens.

With a loving husband, a large family and a gaggle of grandchildren, writing gives Julie another provision for spirituality.

THE INCUBATION PERIOD
About the artist, Donna Bisschop

Artist, writer, singer and drummer (DigTheMoon), Donna Bisschop has lived in the Kawartha Lakes for nearly a decade.

Donna has exhibited her artwork in the Kawartha Art Gallery, the Colborne Street Gallery and the Kawartha Artisans Marketplace with murals of her artwork installed in Haliburton, Kinmount and Fenelon Falls.